A Message From Our President
Greetings:
This is our first annual report since Hurricane Katrina, a hurricane which
dealt our City a terrible blow. The City of New Orleans is now faced with
participating in its own metamorphosis – not by choice but by happenstance –
a catastrophic happenstance. We all must now look at rebuilding our City in
creative and daring ways. We, the members of the Industrial Development
Board of the City of New Orleans, Louisiana Inc. are committed to this
challenge and opportunity. We know that we must not only look at rebuilding
New Orleans, bringing our citizens back to homes and jobs but we must also
look at creating economic development that contributes to the City’s future
growth with courage and conviction. Today, this is the mission of the
Industrial Development Board. As New Orleanians, we are on the threshold of
putting New Orleans back on the map bigger and better than before.
The material that follows constitutes the work, efforts and contributions
to our City by the members of the Industrial Development Board. We welcome
you to take a look at the IDB 2006-2007 Annual Report. As a nonprofit public
corporation, instrumental in promoting the City’s economic development, its
current and future growth, we, the IDB, stand ready to step up to the plate,
ready to make decisions that are difficult but which
will impact the economic growth of the City for years to come. The members
of the IDB Board work voluntarily and steadfastly in ensuring that the
citizens of New Orleans reap the benefits of all projects the IDB supports
and approves.
Since its inception, the IDB has approved projects that have created
thousands of jobs and which have increased our City’s sales tax, earnings
tax and property tax bases. This report will show such accomplishments. From
housing (mixed, affordable and low-income inclusive); to hotels, to
revitalizing neighborhoods whose devastation wreaks the need of repair and
rehabilitation. The IDB stands ready to do its part in ensuring that the
future tax base and the benefits to the City, as it relates to projects that
come before this Board, will be delivered to the citizens of this City now
and in the future. This report will show projects that have
been approved by and are currently pending before the Board for
consideration. Proudly, we have approved housing, retail, supermarket, and
hotel projects since Hurricane Katrina.
On behalf of the IDB, we thank you for taking the time to learn more about
us, our mission, our role and our function in promoting the economic
development of the City of New Orleans. |
